Two new restaurants in surprising
locations have been buzzing lately.
Both have Mexican-inspired menus
but that’s where similarities
end. Mexico Viejo (MV), on the
triangular lot where Beaver Avenue
meets 41st Street, is a nostalgia-themed
mom and pop café with photos
of early 20th century Mexico decorating
a room that includes a full bar
and a pair of high definition
TVs. Bandit Burrito (BB) is an
independent, cafeteria-style restaurant
that has taken over a Johnston
venue previously operated by a
national chain. That is as rare
in Johnston as a “Capitolino”
restaurateur is in Des Moines.
While most Mexican café
owners in town come from Morelia,
Jalisco and Aguascalientes, MV’s
hails from Mexico City, the political
and culinary capitol. The restaurant
reflects his nostalgia for his
hometown.

MV’s menu is broad and includes
the basic Sonora cuisine that
defined Mexican-American in mid
20th century, plus some dishes
from the big city. Complimentary
chips were homemade, and an accompanying
salsa was made from red chilies.
Bowls of homemade chile had a
base of blended refried pinto
beans, with red chilies and roughly
ground beef. It was thick enough
for a chip dip. Pico de gallo
was homemade and fresh.

Both lunch specials ($4.29 - $6.79)
and dinner combos ($6.99) offered
exceptional value. The latter
included eight different vegetarian
dinners, too, though none were
vegan. The most expensive item
on the menu was a house special
mixed fajitas platter ($12.49)
that included generous servings
of shrimp, marinated steak and
ribs, with beans, rice, guacamole,
salad and endless tortillas. One
$4.29 lunch required two full
plates to deliver: a chile relleno;
a taco; refried beans and a guacamole
salad. The relleno was made with
a stem-on poblano, filled with
white cheese. The taco was served
in a crisp shell, fast food style,
with ground beef, lettuce, pico
de gallo and tomato. The guacamole
was fresh.

Chicken fajitas were tender, a
very rare thing, and served with
nicely caramelized onions and
sweet green peppers. Steaks came
recommended as “Mexico City favorites”
and were superb. A “ranchero”
delivered a seared ribeye with
good marbling, covered in red-hot
sauce, caramelized vegetables,
beans and rice, for $10.99. An
order of “arranchera” brought
a good marinated flank steak.
Among the other big city favorites
were huachinango (red snapper)
and carnitas (roasted and fried
pork tips). Desserts starred:
Flan, freshly made each morning,
brought rich custard with a lovely
caramelized sugar topping; Chimicheese
was a house concoction of cream
cheese stuffed in grilled tortilla
and topped with berry compote;
MV’s fried ice cream was rolled
in corn flakes, tightly wrapped
in a flour tortilla and frozen
for hours before being deep fried.

BB is the latest café modeled
after Chipotle Grill, 2007’s number
one restaurant chain in America
(in per store sales growth). While
BB doesn’t offer the same feel-good
ingredients (free range meats,
etc.) as Chipotle, it does offer
more variety and much bigger servings
for your money. On my visits,
BB set a scale out so that customers
could weigh their dinners. One
of my burritos topped 24 ounces,
for just $5.70! Design-your-own-dinners
include choices of fresh made
wrappers, starches, beans, meats,
cheese, salsas, etc. I tried both,
smoked pepper and spinach tortillas,
plus several kinds of meats, both
kinds of beans and both versions
of rice. Chicken mole was moist,
an amazing feat on a steam table.
Pork and shredded beef had excellent
flavor and contrasting textures.
“Vegetarian sausage” was excellent.
All salsas were freshly made and
included: roasted chilies, tart
tomatillos and a creative ginger
peach.